Current techniques for measurement of ammonia levels in a patient rely on invasive tests for example, blood tests. Elevated ammonia levels in blood samples are often indicators of issues with the renal system (liver and kidneys). In addition to being invasive, blood testing is also a relatively slow testing method. Typically a sample must be sent to a laboratory for analysis. It may take hours or days for results to be provided to a patient. Further it is normally necessary that testing be performed by a skilled medical practitioner and that access is available to a laboratory.
There is therefore a need to address these and other problems and limitations relating to testing and sampling of ammonia levels in a patient. There is a need to for a more efficient and reliable and sensitive testing method and approach that addresses the above noted problems. Further, there is a need for improved testing system that operates with short analysis time and provides improved accuracy of measurement of analytes in a sample. There is further a need for improved point of care testing systems that are robust and easy to operate.
The present specification aims to address these problems and to provide a non-invasive method and device for monitoring of ammonia levels in breath which has been shown to correlate with blood levels and is a simple and non-invasive means of testing.